System and method for providing differentiated content based on skill level

ABSTRACT

A system and method is disclosed for providing differentiated content to a user comprising determining a skill level of the user, obtaining unmodified content, aligning the unmodified content to a set of content standards, modifying the aligned content in accordance with the user&#39;s skill level, providing the modified aligned content to the user, re-assessing the user&#39;s skill level based on a response from the user to the modified aligned content, and modifying new aligned content in accordance with the re-assessed user&#39;s skill level.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of PCT Patent Application, InternationalApplication No. PCT/US2006/034231, International Filing Date 31 Aug.2006, which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a system andmethod for providing instructional material to users, and morespecifically, to a web-based system and method for providing customizedinstructional material to a plurality of users, where the instructionalmaterial is modified to match each skill level of each user.

2. Description of the Related Art

Existing instructional methods and tools available today are rigid andnot structured to meet the requirements of a particular user. Forexample, in most classroom settings, a student is placed in a gradelevel that is initially based on the age of the student. An assessmenttest may be given to determine where to place the student within aparticular subject level if the school offers multiple levels within onegrade. For example, an English course may include a remedial level, anaverage or “regular” level, and an advanced or “honor” level. Once thestudent is placed within a particular course level, the student, alongwith the rest of the class, is given a series of lessons taken from alesson plan chosen by the instructor, which may or may not be approvedby a faculty head. The student may be tested periodically and, at theend of a school year, the instructor, or evaluator, will give thestudent a grade, which should be indicative of the student's proficiencyin the course.

If the student receives a passing grade, then he or she may advance tothe next level. If the student fails the course, then the student mustrepeat the course. If the student fails too many courses, the studentmay be required to repeat the grade. In some grade school systems, thestudent may take remedial courses during the summer break between schoolyears which, if successfully completed, allow the student to continue tothe next level. A lesson plan is rarely, if ever, modified toaccommodate the proficiency or skill level of a particular student, oreven for a small group of students.

Because of the sheer number of students and the lack of resourcesavailable, class sizes typically prevent meaningful one-on-oneinteraction between an instructor and a student. The more fortunatestudents who are struggling with the subject matter may get privatetutoring or help from family or friends. The students who excel in aparticular subject matter typically receive the top grades and usuallyhave to wait until the following school year to advance to the nextgrade level. These gifted students may lose interest in the certaincourses because of the lack of intellectual stimulation. In addition, intoday's schools, many students come from different cultural and socialbackgrounds and English may not be their first language. Thus, alanguage barrier may exist, adding another level of difficulty andfrustration for both the English-speaking and non-English speakingstudents, and their instructor.

Educators take these factors into consideration, in addition to others,in developing instructional and educational programs. For example,various governing bodies, such as state and local school boards,establish educational requirements or recommendations. The educationalrequirements or recommendations are typically embodied in formalguidelines or standards. Such requirements or recommendations will bereferred to herein as “educational standards.” Educators are encouraged,or required, to incorporate the educational standards in theireducational plans.

To assist the educators, educational resource providers, such astextbook providers, generate resources that substantially correlate tothe educational standards. The resource providers presently attempt toperform this correlation by obtaining the educational standards and, ina subjective determination by the resource provider, design resourcescorrelated to the educational standards. For example, a textbook companycreates social studies textbooks for a sixth grade skill level inaccordance with state educational standards for sixth grade students.However, these resources may not include all the material preferred byan educator for a specific subject. In addition, resources quicklybecome outdated and do not take into account differences in skill levelsbetween students within a grade level. Although the resources may bealigned to the appropriate educational standards, not all students in aclass may be at the same education skill level. Thus, teaching from onetextbook for a particular grade level may not be an efficient method ofteaching, and may leave some students behind. Teachers do not have timeto allow students to repeatedly practice the skills necessary to advancetheir skill levels, since the teachers must progress through a range ofsubject matter in accordance with educational standards. Thus, studentsdo not necessarily receive enough time to perform exercises to increasetheir skill levels.

Additionally, students often are pressured to meet educationalrequirements to advance to the next grade level, regardless of whetherthe students' skill levels have advanced. However, in a given gradelevel of students, a majority of the students may test lower in skilllevels than the given grade. Thus, a teacher will provide learningmaterial that is aligned to the lower skill level, which may notnecessarily meet the educational requirements specified for grade level.

With the vast use of networked technologies, such as the Internet andthe World Wide Web, new teaching tools and methods have been created toassist educators. Some classrooms are equipped with computerworkstations. However, most of the teaching tools and methodologies usedwith computers today adopt the classic classroom paradigm describedabove.

The LEXILE Framework for Reading (MetaMetrics, Inc.) includes a methodfor analyzing reading material using, primarily, the word frequency andsentence lengths in a pre-determined block of text. LEXILE then assignsa LEXILE Score to the text based on a predetermined scale. The LEXILEFramework also provides assessment tests for students and provides aLEXILE score for each student. Educators may use the LEXILE system tomatch a student's LEXILE score to appropriate reading material with thesame LEXILE score. However, this system merely matches specific readingcontent to students with certain skill levels. An educator using theLEXILE system typically cannot use one learning resource or textbook fora class, but rather has to provide multiple materials to meet eachstudent's assessed skill level. This is a burdensome task for theeducator.

Thus, there is a need for a learning tool that allows a user to progressin the learning of a subject matter in a manner suited, customized oradapted for that particular user. There is a need for such a learningtool that does not demand the extensive resources required forone-on-one or small classroom settings. There is also a need for alearning tool that continuously assesses the learning progress of anindividual user and customizes learning content suited the particularuser while also aligning the learning content with applicableeducational standards.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the present invention includes a method for providingdifferentiated content to a user, comprising the steps of providing afirst set of questions to the user, receiving a first set of answersrelated to the first set of questions from the user, analyzing the firstset of answers to produce a first skill level associated with the user,obtaining a first unmodified content from at least one source, modifyingthe first unmodified content in accordance with the first skill level ofthe user to produce a first modified content, generating a second set ofquestions related to the first modified content, presenting the firstmodified content and the second set of questions to the user, receivinga second set of answers related to the second set of questions from theuser, analyzing the second set of answers to produce a second skilllevel associated with the user, obtaining a second unmodified contentfrom at least one source, and modifying the second unmodified content inaccordance with the second skill level to produce a second modifiedcontent.

Another embodiment of the present invention includes a method forproviding content to a plurality of users, where the content provided toeach user is the same in information but customized in presentation inaccordance with a skill level of each user, comprising the steps ofproviding a first set of questions to the plurality of users, receivinga plurality of first sets of answers related to the first set ofquestions, wherein each first set of answers is associated with eachuser of the plurality of users, analyzing each first set of answers ofthe plurality of first sets of answers to produce a plurality of firstskill levels, wherein each first skill level is associated with eachuser, obtaining a first unmodified content from at least one source,modifying the first unmodified content to produce a plurality ofversions of first modified content, wherein each version of firstmodified content is associated with each first skill level associatedwith each user, generating a plurality of second sets of questionswherein each second set of questions is related to each version of firstmodified content, matching each version of first modified content andeach second set of questions to each first skill level associated witheach user, and presenting each matched version of first modified contentand each matched second set of questions to each user of the pluralityof users.

Another embodiment of the present invention includes a computer systemfor providing differentiated content to a user comprises at least onecentral processing unit, at least one set of support circuits, a firstserver comprising a differentiation engine, wherein the differentiationengine comprises a profile database for storing a user profile, and anassessment application to perform the functions of developing a userprofile, wherein the user profile comprises learning characteristics ofthe user, assessing a plurality of skill levels associated with theuser, and preparing customized content based on the plurality of skilllevels, and a second server comprising a standards enginecommunicatively connected with the differentiation engine, wherein thestandards engine comprises a standards database for storing a pluralityof sets of content standards, an intermediate standards database forstoring a plurality of sets of intermediate standards, and an alignmentapplication to perform the functions of obtaining unmodified content,and applying a set of intermediate standards to align the unmodifiedcontent to a set of content standards from the plurality of sets ofcontent standards.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a computer systemfor providing differentiated content to a user comprising a centralprocessing unit, a set of support circuits, and a server, wherein theserver stores and maintains a memory comprising, at least one operatingsystem, a differentiation engine, a communication engine interfacingwith the differentiation engine, a standards engine interfacing with thedifferentiation engine, and a feedback engine interfacing with thedifferentiation engine, the communications engine, and the standardsengine, is provided.

Another embodiment of the present invention includes a computer-readablememory medium storing executable code for implementing a method toprovide differentiated content to a user on a computer, wherein themethod comprises the steps of providing a first set of questions to theuser, receiving a first set of answers related to the first set ofquestions from the user, analyzing the first set of answers to produce afirst skill level associated with the user, obtaining a first unmodifiedcontent from at least one source, modifying the first unmodified contentin relation to first skill level of the user to produce a first modifiedcontent, generating a second set of questions related to the firstmodified content, presenting the first modified content and the secondset of questions to the user, receiving a second set of answers relatedto the second set of questions from the user, analyzing the second setof answers to produce a second skill level associated with the user,obtaining a second unmodified content from at least one source, andmodifying the second unmodified content in relation to the second skilllevel to produce a second modified content.

Another embodiment of the present invention includes a computer-readablememory medium storing executable code for implementing a method toprovide content to a plurality of users, where the content provided toeach user is the same in information but customized in presentation inaccordance with a skill level of each user, wherein the method comprisesthe steps of providing a first set of questions to the plurality ofusers, receiving a plurality of first sets of answers related to thefirst set of questions, wherein each first set of answers is associatedwith each user of the plurality of users, analyzing each first set ofanswers of the plurality of first sets of answers to produce a pluralityof first skill levels, wherein each first skill level is associated witheach user, obtaining a first unmodified content from at least onesource, modifying the first unmodified content to produce a plurality ofversions of first modified content, wherein each version of firstmodified content is associated with each first skill level associatedwith each user, generating a plurality of second sets of questionswherein each second set of questions is related to each version of firstmodified content, matching each version of first modified content andeach second set of questions to each first skill level associated witheach user, and presenting each matched version of first modified contentand each matched second set of questions to each user of the pluralityof users.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So the manner in which the above recited features of the presentinvention may be understood in more detail, a more particulardescription of the embodiments of the present invention, brieflysummarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of whichare illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however,the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the presentinvention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope,for the present invention may admit to other equally effectiveembodiments, in which:

FIG. 1 is a system for providing differentiated content based onmultiple levels of skill, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 presents a method for differentiating content based on multiplelevels of skill, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 presents a method for aligning content to multiple sets ofcontent standards, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 presents a method for providing differentiated content to users,in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5A-5E illustrate user interfaces associated with a system forproviding differentiated content, based on multiple levels of skill, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a progress report of multiple users using differentiatedlearning content, based on multiple levels of skill, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a progress report of multiple users' performance in relationto different educational standards; and

FIG. 8 is a report of multiple users' performance in relation to asingle educational standard, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 presents an embodiment of the present invention depicting asystem 100 for providing differentiated content to a plurality of usersbased on associated levels of skill. System 100 comprises adifferentiation engine 102, an electronic mail (“e-mail”) engine 104 tofunction as a communications engine, a standards-engine 106, and afeedback engine 108. Each engine 102, 104, 106, and 108 comprises acentral processing unit (CPU) 152, 154, 156, and 158, support circuits124, 126, 128, and 130, and a memory 132, 134, 136, and 138,respectively. The CPU 152, 154, 156, 158 may comprise one or moreconventionally available microprocessors. The support circuits 124, 126,128, 130 are well known circuits that comprise power supplies, clocks,input/output interface circuitry, and the like. Embodiments of thepresent invention encompass each engine 102, 104, 106, and 108maintained on a single server, or on multiple servers, where a servermay be any type of computing device adapted to distribute data andprocess data requests.

Memory 132, 134, 136, 138 may comprise any random access memory, readonly memory, removable disk memory, flash memory, and variouscombinations of these types of memory. The memory 132, 134, 136, 138 issometimes referred to as main memory and may in part be used as cachememory or buffer memory. The memory 132, 134, 136, 138 stores varioussoftware packages and components, such as an operating system (O/S) 116,118, 120, and 122, respectively. The memory may be stored on anycomputer-readable medium, including, but not limited to, any datastorage device readable by a computer, whether volatile, non-volatile,or implemented electronically or otherwise, known in the art, includingfloppy disks, hard disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs, flash memories, non-volatileROMs, and RAMs.

The assessment and differentiation application 140 comprises modules forassessing and re-assessing skill levels of users who interact with thesystem 100. The memory 132 also may include a database 160 for storingand maintaining user profiles. Each user profile may include useridentification information, learning characteristics of a user,interests of a user, and an assessment of skill levels in a multiplesubject matter areas.

The memory 132 of the differentiation engine 102 comprises an assessmentand differentiation application 140 comprising modules for obtainingaligned content and matching the aligned content to a skill level of auser 110, 112. The assessment and differentiation application 140 alsoincludes a module for preparing lesson plans for each user 110, 112,where each lesson plan includes the aligned content and lesson exercisesappropriate for the skill level(s) of the user 110, 112. An embodimentof the present invention includes the assessment and differentiationapplication 140 obtaining the aligned content and matching it to theuser's skill level in real-time, where the application 140 obtains thealigned content as soon as it is available, and matches the alignedcontent substantially immediately. Another embodiment of the presentinvention includes the assessment and differentiation application 140obtaining the aligned content and matching the content to the user'sskill level at preset periods of time, such as hourly, daily, monthly,and the like.

Aligned content is based upon unmodified content that is aligned toapplicable content standards, for example, educational standards. Theapplication 140 obtains the aligned content and modifies the alignedcontent to match at least one skill level associated with a user profilestored in database 160. The differentiation engine 102 may obtain thealigned content from a database 166 internal or external to the system100. In another embodiment, the differentiation engine 102 may obtainaligned content by interfacing with the standards engine 106. In yetanother embodiment of the present invention, the memory 132 comprises adatabase (not shown) for storing the modified aligned content.

The memory 134 of the e-mail engine 104 comprises an e-mail application142 including modules for e-mailing content to users of the system 100.Users 110 and 112 and evaluators 114 may access the system 100 throughthe e-mail engine 104. Users 110 and 112 may communicate with each otherusing the e-mail engine 104 and may communicate with any other userassociated with a group associated with the user 110, 112. For example,a student may e-mail any other student in his or her grade, his or herschool, or his or her school district, depending on the communicationboundaries set by the evaluator 114. Further, the evaluator 114 may usethe e-mail engine 104 to provide lessons comprising modified content toa user 110, 112 or to a group of users.

The e-mail application 142 may edit the content and format of an e-mailusing a skill level of the intended recipient to prepare and deliver acustomized e-mail message. The e-mail application 142 may prepare aplurality of customized e-mail messages covering the same subject matterfor delivery to multiple recipients. For example, the evaluator 114 maycompose an e-mail message to be sent to both users 110 and 112, eachhaving different associated skill levels. The e-mail engine 104interfaces with the differentiation engine 102 to obtain the skilllevels associated with users 110 and 112, and edits the content andformat of the original e-mail from the evaluator 114 to produce acustomized version of the evaluator's original e-mail for each user 110,112, where the presentation of the e-mail is appropriate for the skilllevel of each user 110, 112. Thus, user 110 will receive an e-mail fromevaluator 114 modified to meet his or her specific skill level, and user112 will receive an e-mail from evaluator 114 modified to meet his orher specific skill level.

The memory 136 of the standards engine 106 comprises at least onedatabase 146 for storing a plurality of educational standards, such asstate academic standards, local district academics standards, and thelike. The memory 136 comprises another database 148 for storing aplurality of intermediate content standards that the system uses toalign unmodified content to the plurality of educational standards.

The memory 136 of the standards engine 106 also comprises an alignmentapplication 144 that includes modules for aligning unmodified content toeducational standards stored in database 146 using the intermediatecontent standards stored in database 148.

The standards engine 106 interacts with at least one content source toquery for and obtain unmodified content, such as, for example, newsarticles, textbook excerpts, library journals, and the like. Forexample, the standards engine 106 may interact with a news database 162and an academic lessons database 164. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the alignment application 144 queries the news database 162to obtain news articles to be aligned to the educational standardsstored in the database 146 and developed into differentiated learninglessons by the differentiation engine 102. An aspect of this embodimentincludes the alignment application 144 querying for and obtaining newsarticles, on a periodic basis, such as a daily basis, to create newaligned content. Another embodiment of the present invention includesthe alignment application 144 querying for and obtaining unmodifiedcontent substantially continuously and aligning the unmodified contentto the applicable educational standards in real-time. Another embodimentof the present invention includes the alignment application 144periodically updating the educational standards stored in the database146.

Upon obtaining the unmodified content, the alignment application 144 mayalign the unmodified content to the applicable content standards storedin database 146 using the intermediate standards stored in database 148.The aligned content then may be stored in a database 166. The database166 may be maintained external to the system 100, such as, for example,on a storage area network. In another embodiment of the presentinvention, a database 166 for storing aligned content is maintainedwithin the memory 136 of the standards engine 106. The standards engine106 interacts with the differentiation engine 102 to provide access tothe aligned content database 166, which the differentiation enginefurther modifies using the assessment and differentiation application tocustomize the aligned content in accordance with different skill levelsof users, such as, users 110 and 112.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a standards engine 106includes a memory 136 with a database for storing both the educationalstandards and the intermediate standards. In yet another embodiment, atleast one content standards database is maintained externally to thesystem 100, such as, for example, on a storage area network. A standardsengine 106 interfaces with this external database to utilize the storedcontent standards data.

The memory 132 of the feedback engine 108 comprises a performancedatabase 150 that stores performance and progress data associated witheach user 110, 112 of the system 100. The memory 138 also may comprise afeedback application 168 having modules for generating performance andprogress data associated with a user 110, 112 of the system 100. Forexample, an embodiment of the present invention includes the feedbackapplication 168 generating a progress report of a user 110, 112regarding the user's performance on a customized lesson provided by thedifferentiation engine 102. The progress report also may track theuser's 110, 112 performance in each subject matter in relation to theeducational standards stored in the database 146, and in relation toother users 110, 112, using feedback and performance data stored in theperformance database 150.

Via the feedback application. 168, the feedback engine 108 may interfacewith the standards engine 106 to access the standards database 146 fortracking the performance of a user 110, 112 in comparison with one ormore educational standard stored in the database 146. The feedbackengine 108 also interfaces with the differentiation engine 102 to accessthe profile database 160 and associate performance reports of a user110, 112 with the user's stored profile. The feedback application alsoincludes modules for providing performance and progress data to a user110, 112 or evaluator 114 of the system using the e-mail engine 104.

A user 110, 112 may access the system 100 via the e-mail engine 104through a communications network 170. A user may use a common computeror any communications device to access the system 100 and thecommunications network 170 may be any conventional network, such as anEthernet network, a fiber channel network, or a wide area network (WAN)that provides either a direct, or indirect (e.g., Internet access via awired or wireless connection, or public switched telephone network(PSTN)) connection between the user 112 and the system 100.

In the present embodiment, the system 100 is a stand-alone systemmaintained using one or more servers and one or more computing devices.Other embodiments of the present invention comprise incorporating system100 into another system, such as, for example, a local school districtsystem or a statewide educational system. The system is not limited to aspecific operating system, but may be adapted to run on any operatingsystem, including, but not limited to, LINUX and Microsoft WINDOWS.

Although the system 100 of this particular embodiment is described to beused as an educational tool, the scope of the present inventionencompasses other embodiments comprising a system 100 to be used as anassessment and learning tool in any area of skill. Embodiments of thepresent invention encompass multiple types of users, such as, aneducational student using the system 100 to receive educational lessons,a job applicant using the system for job training, or any person beingassessed for a certain level of skill and receiving content based ontheir level of skill. An evaluator may be a teacher, an employer, or anyperson overseeing the utilization of the system 100 by a user 110, 112.

For example, an embodiment of the present invention comprises adifferentiation system for assessing skill levels of job candidates andproviding differentiated job training lessons aligned to applicableindustry standards, where each lesson is customized to the learninglevels of each job candidate of the system.

FIGS. 2 through 8 describe embodiments of the present invention relatedto a system for providing differentiated content where the content isused for teaching school-aged children. However, one of ordinary skillin the art would readily recognize that the scope of the presentinvention is not limited to embodiments pertaining to academiceducational systems, but rather may encompass any system wheredifferentiated content is provided to a user based on the assessed skilllevel(s) of the user.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 200 for using a systemthat provides differentiated academic content, in accordance with anembodiment of the system. The steps need not be in the sequenceillustrated, and some steps may occur essentially simultaneously. Thismethod may be performed using the system 100, including thedifferentiation engine 102, the e-mail engine 104, the standards engine106, and the feedback engine 108, as described in the embodiment ofFIG. 1. Using the system 100, the steps of the method 200 may occur inreal-time, or the steps may occur at preset periodic intervals of time.

The method 200 begins at step 202 and progresses to step 204 where oneor more users registers with the system 100. In this step, the user(s)may enter information such as, for example, grade level, contactinformation, personal interests, school district, and specific learningcharacteristics, such as, subject matter preferences, for example. Theuser(s) may access the system 100 using e-mail, such as, for example,through the email engine 104 described in the embodiment of FIG. 1, ormay access the system 100 directly using, for example, an Internet webpage associated with the system 100.

Upon receiving the entered information, at step 206, the system 100develops a student profile associated with each user, and stores theprofile in a database, such as, for example, the profile database 160described in the embodiment of FIG. 1. At step 208, the system 100assesses the skill level of the user(s) in one or more subject matters.To perform this step, the system 100 may, for example, deliver a set ofquestions to the user(s) in different subject matters, such as literacy,reading comprehension, vocabulary, and mathematics, and assess a skilllevel in each subject area based on a predetermined skill-level scale.For example, the system 100 may use the LEXILE Framework to assess areading level associated with a number of users. The system 100 wouldthen assign a LEXILE reading score to each user. In another embodimentof the present invention, the system 100 also assesses the fluency ofeach user in a specific language.

At step 210, the system 100 maps the assessed skill level(s) to eachuser's associated profile generated in step 206. The system 100 also mayreport the assessed users' skill levels to an evaluator associated withthe user(s). The assessed skill level(s) may account for learningdisabilities, handicaps, and any other conditions particular to aspecific student.

Once the system 100 has assessed the skill level(s) of the users, thesystem 100 may create customized lesson plans for each user based uponeach user's skill level(s). At step 212, the system 100 obtainsunmodified (or raw) content to be developed into a lesson plan. Thesystem 100 obtains the unmodified content from sources. The unmodifiedcontent includes, but is not limited to, textbook excerpts, periodicalarticles, news articles, literary excerpts, and the like. The unmodifiedcontent may come from any source, such as, for example, academictextbook, news sources, library databases, pre-developed lessondatabases, and the like.

At step 214, the system 100 analyzes the difficulty level of theunmodified content in accordance with one or more educational standards,and aligns the unmodified content to the educational standards using aset of intermediate standards. In the present embodiment, theeducational standards include, but are not limited to, state academicstandards, local school district standards, and the like. At step 214,the system 100 produces multiple versions of the unmodified content,referred to herein as aligned content versions, each of which issubstantially similar to the unmodified content in subject, meaning andcontext, but where each version of aligned content is aligned to aspecific skill level associated with the educational standards.

For example, an embodiment of the present invention comprises a methodfor obtaining a news article on terrorism and aligning the news articleto a set of educational standards for social studies by modifying theformat and content of the original news article to produce alignedversions of the news article, where each version is associated with aspecific skill level of the educational standards. For example, thesystem 100 may first obtain the news article and analyze the articleagainst a set of state educational standards to determine the newsarticle is appropriate for a high school reading comprehension level.The system 100 then creates an aligned content version of the unmodifiednews article for a second grade reading comprehension level by breakingup the article into shorter sentences and paragraphs, and rewriting thearticle using grade-appropriate vocabulary. In contrast, another exampleincludes the system 100 creating an aligned content version of theunmodified news article for an eighth grade reading comprehension levelby keeping the sentence lengths in the original article, but simplifyingthe vocabulary using appropriate grade level terms.

At step 216, the system 100 matches a specific version of the alignedcontent to a user using the user's pre-assessed skill level(s). Thesystem 100 may modify further the matched aligned content version toincrease comprehension of the aligned content version by the specificuser. The 100 system matches a version of the aligned content to a userby matching specific areas of learning where the user exhibits a needfor improvement, as assessed by the system 100 in step 208.

The system 100 also may match multiple aligned content versions tomultiple users based upon each user's pre-assessed skill level(s), instep 218. Using the previous example, a system 100 may match multiplealigned versions of a news article on terrorism to multiple students ina current events class. Thus, each student receives an article coveringthe same terrorism subject matter, however, each student's version willbe presented in a context and format customized to the student's skilllevel(s). The method of this embodiment provides for an unmodifiedlearning content to be provided at multiple skill levels simultaneously,thereby providing for collaborative learning from the same unmodifiedlearning content by many users of varying skill levels.

At step 220, the system 100 prepares one or more lesson plans associatedwith different versions of the aligned content. The lesson plans mayinclude a set of lesson exercises, such as, for example, assessmentquestions and activities that relates in subject, context, and skilllevel to each version of the aligned content. An embodiment of thepresent invention includes a lesson plan comprising a set of vocabularyquestions, an essay question for thinking comprehension, a set ofmathematical exercises, a set of social studies questions, links toextended background material regarding the subject matter, gamesassociated with the aligned content, and a user-based poll to promptinteractive discussion of the aligned content. Another embodiment of thepresent invention includes providing an editing checklist as part of anessay question in a lesson plan, where the checklist provides a list ofediting items that a user should include in an essay answer. In step220, the system 100 may modify each lesson plan to match the specificlearning characteristics of each user, such as, for example, using aspecific spoken language, using different size fonts for each lesson,using level-appropriate vocabulary, different graphics, and may providean audible feature that “reads aloud” one or more portions of the lessonplan. An embodiment of the present invention includes a system 100modifying each lesson plan by providing the aligned content in acombination of English and a foreign language depending upon a user'scurrent level of progress in moving from the user's native non-Englishlanguage to English. Thus, the system 100 aligns both the learningcontent and the context of the related lesson plan to each user's skilllevel(s).

In another embodiment of the present invention, the system 100 does notperform the function of preparing a lesson plan, in step 220, butproceeds to step 222, where the system 100 prepares to deliver thematched aligned version to each respective user.

In step 222, the system 100 prepares to deliver the lesson plans to eachuser using, for example, an e-mail system. The system 100 differentiatesthe context and format of each e-mail to customize the e-mail for eachuser. An embodiment of the present invention includes preparingdifferentiated e-mails and lesson plans to deliver a lesson to a groupof users using each user's preferred spoken language, specific fontsizes for better comprehension, specific graphics, and a customizedformat correlated to each user's skill level(s). Embodiments of thepresent invention include a system 100 that delivers lessons usinge-mail wherein each e-mail includes a link to the lesson plan, includesa portion of the lesson plan, or includes the entirety of the lessonplan in the body of the e-mail.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system 100 providesfor an evaluator to generate a calendar of lesson plans related to apredetermined selection of unmodified contents or a predeterminedselection of unmodified content subject matters, where the calendarcovers a time period of an entire academic year. The evaluator maycreate the calendar in the system 100 using applications provided by thesystem 100. In an embodiment of the present invention, the evaluator maygenerate the calendar using a third party calendar application and loadthe calendar into the system 100. The system 100 then obtains unmodifiedcontent in accordance with the predetermined selection of unmodifiedcontents or unmodified content subject matters, aligns the obtainedunmodified content, and prepares lesson plans to be automaticallydelivered to the users at predetermined times, in accordance with theevaluator's calendar.

At step 224, each user receives his or her customized e-mail deliveringa lesson plan. Using the e-mail, each user may access his or hercustomized lesson and begins to perform the associated lesson exercises.As each user completes each lesson exercise, the system 100 receiveseach user's inputs at step 226 and begins to dynamically re-assess theskill level(s) of each user.

Once each user completes the lesson exercise(s), each user may submitthe completed lesson exercise(s) for grading. Grading may be performedby the system 100, as in step 228, and the results may be stored in adatabase and associated with each user's profile. In an embodiment ofthe present invention, at step 230, the system 100 evaluates each user'sperformance in real-time as each user completes each lesson exercise,and provides feedback of the completed lesson to each user, prior toentering a final grade. The system 100 may provide the feedback in step230 using a feedback engine 108, as described in the embodiment ofFIG. 1. At step 232, the feedback feature allows each user to modify theanswers to the lesson exercises prior to submitting the completed lessonexercise(s) for final grading. An aspect of this embodiment includesproviding the feedback feature to selected users of differing skilllevels.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the system 100 maydeliver the completed lesson exercise(s) to an evaluator of the user(s)for grading. The evaluator may enter the results of each graded lessonexercise into the system 100 for further evaluation and analysis by thesystem 100.

Once the completed lesson exercise(s) have been graded in step 228, thesystem 100 may determine whether an adjustment should be made to auser's skill level(s) based upon the completed lesson exercise(s), instep 234. If the system 100 determines the skill level assessed from thecompleted lesson is the same as the previous skill level of the user, instep 236, the system 100 does not adjust the skill level(s) associatedwith the user.

If the system 100 determines the skill level assessed from the completedlesson exercise(s) is different than the previous skill level of theuser, the system 100 adjusts the appropriate skill level(s) of the user,at step 238. The system 100 is capable of providing continuousre-assessment of the user's skill level(s).

At step 240, the system 100 reports the results of the completed lessonexercise(s) and any adjustments to the skill levels of one or more usersto the evaluator. An embodiment of the present invention includesreporting the results individually to an evaluator. That is, the resultsare reported as each user completes a lesson exercise. Anotherembodiment of the present invention includes reporting the combinedresults of a group of users to an evaluator, for example, in a tabularformat. The evaluator may select the specific characteristics associatedwith a report for the system 100 to generate.

At step 242, the evaluator evaluates the completed lessons and suggestedadjustments and non-adjustments to one or more skill levels of eachuser. The evaluator may accept the completed lessons and suggested skilllevel adjustments/non-adjustments, and at step 244, the system 100prepares a new lesson plan for each user, accounting for adjustments toskill level(s) to customize the new lesson plan for each user.

The evaluator also may reject either the completed lesson(s) for one ormore users and/or the adjusted skill level(s) provided by the system.The evaluator may consider conditions regarding a user's learningenvironment that are not available to the system 100. For example, theevaluator may be aware of a disruptive home, a loss of a user's familymember, an emergency situation, and the like. If the evaluator does notaccept the adjusted skill levels provided by the system 100, at step246, the system 100 may prepare a new lesson customized to each user inaccordance with each user's non-adjusted skill level(s).

At step 248, the system 100 determines whether a user's learning sessionshould continue. If the user's learning session is at an end, forexample, the user completes all lesson plans for a specific subject orwithin an allotted time period, the system 100 terminates the user'slearning session at step 250. If, however, the system 100 determines theuser's learning session should continue, the system 100 repeats thelearning and evaluation process starting again with step 214.

Thus, the system of the embodiment described in FIG. 2 deliversdifferentiated content to each user that is aligned to the user's skilllevel(s), maintaining the same content topics, main ideas and coreelements, and thereby providing evaluators with the ability to engagewhole-class learning using individually differentiated content.

FIG. 3 presents a method 300 for aligning learning content toeducational standards and differentiating the content to customize thecontent for multiple users, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. The method 300 illustrates steps that may beperformed by a system 100 comprising a differentiation component 102 anda standards component 106, as described in the embodiment of FIG. 1.Using the system 100, the steps of the method 300 may occur inreal-time, or the steps may occur at preset periodic intervals of time.

The method 300 begins at step 302 and progresses to step 304 where asystem 100 for providing differentiated learning content obtains contentstandards and stores the standards in one or more databases, such as theeducational standards database 146, described in the embodiment ofFIG. 1. The content standards may be any type of accepted contentstandards used to align unmodified content to one or more skill levels.

At step 306, the system 100 performs a self-analysis and assesses thecomponents and modules of the system 100, specifically, thedifferentiation engine 102, the e-mail engine 104, the standards engine106, and the feedback engine 108. To perform the self-analysis, thesystem 100 assesses what technical functions and features each componentof the system 100 includes at a particular time. The system 100 thenproduces a set of system competencies used by the system 100 todetermine the types of unmodified content the system's components arecapable of managing, the modifications may be made to the unmodifiedcontent when aligning the unmodified content to one or more educationalstandards, the modifications made to aligned content when the alignedcontent is matched to a user's skill level(s), and the types of lessonexercises included in a lesson plan related to the unmodified content.

For example, the system 100 may contain certain technology includingvoice to text recognition. When the system 100 performs theself-analysis, the system acknowledges the voice to text recognitiontechnology and creates a system competency related to a lesson exercisethat allows a user to execute the lesson exercise by “speaking” into amicrophone connected to a computer. Thus, the system 100 acknowledgesthat such lesson exercises may be included in a lesson plan.

Another example includes adding a technology module to the system 100 asa new subject matter area for learning. When the system 100 performs theself-analysis, the system 100 acknowledges the technology module andcreates one or more system competencies related to the technologymodule, such that the system 100 may obtain unmodified content relatedto technology and may generate lesson plans related to technology withlesson exercises for testing learning content related to technology. Forexample, the system 100 may obtain a new set of educational standards,such as the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) generatedby the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) tointegrate into the system components, such as the standards engine 106.The system 100 then may obtain unmodified content related to technology,such as ethics in using the Internet, for example, and align theunmodified content to the NETS standards to generate lesson plansmatched to the skill levels of the users.

An embodiment of the present invention includes a system 100 with atechnology module that identifies the platform and the softwareapplications of a user's computer when the user accesses the system 100.The system 100 then incorporates the identified platform and softwareapplications data into one or more technology lesson plans for the user.For example, the lesson plan may test the user's knowledge of certaincommands available in a specific application stored on the user'scomputer, as part of an exercise in a technology lesson plan.

The set of system competencies is stored in a competencies database (notshown). The competencies database may be edited and updated at any time,by the system 100 or by a system administrator, based upon updates oralterations to the system 100. For example, the system 100 may perform aself-analysis on a periodic basis or when new elements are added to thesystem 100. In this manner, the system 100 is a “self monitoring”system. When new features and capabilities are added and implemented,the system performs the self-analysis and updates the systemcompetencies.

At step 308, the system 100 analyzes the content standards to develop anunderstanding of the similarities and differences between each contentstandard and each skill level to which the content standards apply.Specifically, the analysis includes, but is not limited to, anevaluation of the statements of the standards, the structure of thestandards, the core meaning of the standards, the related and ancillarymeaning of the standards, the learning mode referenced by the standards,the intent of the standards, and the related critical thinking, logical,philosophical, and pedagogical elements of the content standards. Basedupon the system's analysis of the multiple elements of the contentstandards, the system 100 creates a unique numerical scheme output as aset of unique standards codes. The standards codes relate to one or moreelements of the content standards as analyzed by the system 100. Thesystem may store this analysis in a system database, such as anintermediate standards database 148, as described in the embodiment ofFIG. 1.

At step 310, the system 100 performs a comparative analysis of thesystem competencies and the standards codes to match each systemcompetency with one or more applicable standards code. Each matchbetween a system competency and a standards code is an intermediatestandard, to produce a set of intermediate standards. The system 100uses the intermediate standards to align unmodified content with storedcontent standards. The system 100 may update the intermediate standardsas the system competencies change or are re-assessed, or when the system100 performs an analysis of different or updated content standards. Thesystem 100 may update the intermediate standards in real time, or atpreset periodic time intervals. The intermediate standards are stored ina system database, such as the intermediate standards database 148.

At step 312, the system 100 obtains and stores unmodified content fromone or more sources, such as industry databases, learning databases,proprietary databases, newspapers, and the like. The system 100 maycategorize the unmodified content according to subject matter, source,chronologically, and the like.

At step 314, the system 100 aligns the unmodified content to anapplicable set of stored content standards using a set of intermediatestandards. The system 100 may perform this analysis using anapplication, such as the alignment application 144. An embodiment of thepresent invention includes aligning the unmodified content to theapplicable content standards using a hierarchical structure. Theintermediate standards analyze not only the statements of the standards,but the structure of the standards, the intent behind the standards,which may be included as part of the standards, and the subtleties ofthe language of the standards.

In step 314, the system 100 develops multiple versions of the unmodifiedcontent where each version correlates to a specific hierarchical levelof the content standards. The subject matter of each version issubstantially the same as the unmodified content; however, each versionincludes a different presentation of the unmodified content. To developthe multiple versions, the system 100 substantially breaks down theunmodified content and builds a modified version of the unmodifiedcontent using skill level characteristics, such as appropriatevocabulary and sentence length. Links or “tags” may be attached tocertain words within the modified version to map the aligned contentwith the applicable content standard. The system 100 may store theversions of the aligned content in a database, such as the alignedcontent database 166.

Once system 100 completes the alignment process, at step 316, the system100 matches versions of aligned content to each user using skill levelsassociated with each user of the system 100. The system 100 may performthis function using an application, such as the differentiationapplication 140. The matched aligned content then may be used to developone or more lesson plans for each user. The method may end at step 318.Another embodiment of the present invention includes a system 100periodically repeating the method 300 to continually obtain newunmodified content to align to a set of applicable content standards. Inyet another embodiment of the present invention, a system thatcontinuously repeats method 300 is provided.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method 400 for providing differentiated alignedcontent to multiple users through an e-mail system, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention. The method 400 illustrates stepsthat may be performed by a system 100 comprising a differentiationcomponent and an e-mail component 104, such as the system described inthe embodiment of FIG. 1. Using the system 100, the steps of the method400 may occur in real-time, or the steps may occur at preset periodicintervals of time. Although this figure describes a method ofcommunication using e-mail, the scope of the invention is not limited toan e-mail communication method, but includes other embodimentscomprising methods of communication using text messaging, instantmessaging, and any other type of electronic communication.

The method 400 begins at step 402 and proceeds to step 404, where alesson plan is prepared for a group of users by an evaluator. Each userhas a different skill level as assessed by the system 100, for example,by an assessment application 140 of the system 100. Embodiments of thepresent invention include users grouped by skill level, grade level, aspecific school, a specific schooling district, and the like. In thepresent embodiment, the evaluator is a teacher. However, otherembodiments include any type of evaluator who reviews a performance ofone or more users of the system 100.

In step 404, the evaluator prepares a single e-mail to a group of userscovering a specific lesson plan topic. The evaluator may include lessonplan content aligned to educational standards and stored in a systemdatabase, similar to the method described in the embodiment of FIG. 3.In another embodiment of the present invention, an evaluator may providea link to a lesson plan prepared and stored by a system 100 similar tothe method described in the embodiment of FIG. 2. The evaluator mayinclude general instructions applicable to the group of students.

At step 406, the system 100 modifies the evaluator's e-mail to producemultiple versions of the evaluator's e-mail, where each versioncorrelates to one or more skill level(s) of each user. For example, asystem 100 may modify the body of the e-mail using level-appropriatevocabulary, level-appropriate sentence length, specific graphics,multiple languages, and the like. The system 100 also verifies that thealigned content or selected lesson plan correlates to the skill level(s)of each user.

At step 408, each user receives an e-mail version correlated to theusers skill level(s), and opens the e-mail to access the learningcontent. Using the e-mail system, such as the email engine 104, eachuser may communicate with other users with an assigned group, such as,for example, a student, another evaluator, a school administrator, andthe like, to discuss the lesson plan in his or her e-mail, at step 410.For example, a user may contact another user in his or her grade classto discuss the most recent lesson plan received in an e-mail. A useralso may be restricted from using the e-mail engine 104 to communicatewith anyone outside the user's assigned group(s), thereby limiting theuse of the e-mail engine 104 to educational studies. In anotherembodiment, the system forwards a copy of each e-mail sent to a user tothe user's parents, for their information and review. This allows theuser's parents or guardian also to monitor their child's learningprogress and completion of assigned lesson plans.

At step 412, the system 100 may send a copy of each e-mail sent by allusers within a group to the group evaluator. This feature ensures that auser is not misusing the e-mail engine 104. An embodiment of the presentinvention includes language and content filters that may be applied toe-mail from one or more users. Another embodiment includes the evaluatorchoosing to receive copies of all e-mails sent by selected users.

At step 414, each user may notify the evaluator that he or she hascompleted a lesson plan, using the e-mail engine 104. In anotherembodiment of the present invention, the system 100 sends a notificationto an evaluator when each user completes one or more lesson plans, atstep 416. The evaluator then may access the system 100 and grade thecompleted lesson plan, or may allow the system 100 to grade thecompleted lesson plan and provide the graded results to the evaluator.This allows the evaluator to monitor the progress and performance ofeach user.

At step 418, the system 100 informs the evaluator that one or more skilllevels associated with each user has been adjusted by the system. Theevaluator may use the e-mail engine 100 to contact a specific user'sparents or guardian to discuss the user's progress or lack thereof.

At step 420, the process may be repeated beginning at step 404 toprepare and deliver another lesson plan to the group of users.Alternately, the process may end at 422.

FIGS. 5A-5E present example graphic user interfaces for a differentiatedlesson plan produced by a system for providing differentiating learningcontent, according to an embodiment of the present invention, such asthe system 100 described in the embodiment of FIG. 1. In thisembodiment, a system 100 obtains unmodified content from THE ASSOCIATEDPRESS in the form of an article covering foods served at schools. Thesystem 100 aligns the article to a set of educational standards andproduces multiple versions of the article, where each version is alignedto a specific educational standard, similar to the method described inthe embodiment of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5A illustrates a lesson plan 500 of the article for a fourth gradereading comprehension level, in accordance with the New Jersey CoreCurriculum Content Standards for Language Arts Literacy. The lesson plan500 includes a modified article 502 covering the relevant subjectmatter, with highlighted level-appropriate vocabulary words 504. Anembodiment of the present invention includes a system 100 that providesthe modified article 502 as an audio file to the user. Thus, if a useris having difficulty reading the modified article 502, or portions ofthe article, the user may choose to hear the modified article 502 readaudibly.

A dictionary definition 506 for each vocabulary word 504 is providedbelow the article. A user completing this lesson plan 500 may choose tohear the pronunciation of the vocabulary words 504 by clicking on aspeaker icon appearing next to each word in the dictionary definitions506. Another embodiment of the present invention includes presenting thelesson plan 500 in different languages, such as, for example, Spanish,and in different size fonts for each user. In yet another embodiment ofthe present invention, the system 100 presents the modified article 502and the lesson plan 500 in accordance with the level of the user'sfluency in a specific language. For example, a user who is learningEnglish may receive a different version of the lesson plan 502 usingbasic vocabulary, in contrast to a user who is more proficient in theEnglish language and, therefore, would receive the lesson plan 500 aspresented in FIG. 5A.

An embodiment of the present invention includes a user with a fourthgrade skill level in language arts and literacy receiving a daily lessonplan in an e-mail from his or her evaluator. Upon opening the e-mail,the user accesses the lesson plan 500 and reads through the article 502.Upon completing a review of article 502, the user begins to performlesson exercises, such as the exercise 506 illustrated in FIG. 5B.

The exercise 506 comprises multiple choice questions 508 related to thearticle 502. In FIG. 5B, a question 508 is posed to the user, with achoice of four answers 510 available for the user's selection. The usermay select the appropriate answer 510 and proceed to the next question512. An aspect of the embodiment includes the system 100 re-assessingthe literacy skill level of the user as he or she begins to answer eachquestion 508 by comparing the answer 510 selected by the user to astandard correct answer and considering the time spent in answering thequestion 508.

Another lesson exercise is an essay question 514 presented in FIG. 5C.The user may complete the essay in the area 516 provided. While the useris entering his or her answer 516, the system 100 may analyze the answerto re-assess the skill level of the user in real time. An aspect of theembodiment includes analyzing the content of the answer 516 byvocabulary, word frequency, length of the answer 516, sentence length,and length of time spent answering the essay question 514. Anotherembodiment of the present invention includes the system 100 postponingthe analysis of the user's answer 516 after the user submits the answer516 in its entirety as complete.

In FIG. 5C, the user may check the spelling of the answer 510 using the“Check spelling” option 520. The user also may choose to complete theexercise at a later time by selecting the “Finish Later” option 522, forexample, to leave the computer to eat a meal or perform a chore. Oncethe user has completed his or her answer 516, the user submits theanswer 516 to the system 100 using the “Submit Now” option 524.

Prior to submitting a completed answer, the user may check his or herwork against a standard answer by selecting the “Check Your Work” option518. Option 518 allows the system 100 to analyze the answer 516 againsta standard correct answer and against the fourth grade level standard ingeneral. The system 100 then may provide immediate feedback to the userregarding the user's answer 516 using the feedback engine 108, allowingthe user to modify the answer 516 prior to submitting the answer 516 ascomplete. An embodiment of the present invention includes providing oneor more editing checklists, such as the “Include in Your Answer”checklist 528 provided in FIG. 5C, to the user for guidance forassistance with preparing the essay answer 516.

As shown in FIG. 5C, the user or parent/guardian of a user may view theapplicable educational standard by clicking on a standards icon 526.FIG. 5D presents an excerpt 530 of the educational standard used by thesystem to produce the lesson plan 500.

FIG. 5E presents a different version 532 of the original news articleused to produce the lesson article 502 in FIG. 5A. The version 532 isaligned to an eighth grade skill level for language arts literacy inaccordance with the standards presented in FIG. 5D. The version 532 ofthe article is longer in length than the version 502 presented in FIG.5A, and comprises a greater collection of words, longer sentences, andvocabulary words 534 that are more difficult than the vocabulary words504 illustrated in FIG. 5A.

Similar to the embodiment of FIG. 5A, dictionary definitions 536 of theselected vocabulary words 534 are provided below the article 532.Additional reading material regarding the subject matter of the article532 may be provided to the user as a link 538. The link 538 may beincluded in every eighth grade lesson plan covering this specificarticle. In another embodiment of the present invention, the link 538 isprovided in selected eighth grade lesson plans based upon each user'sassessed skill level and interests provided in a related user profile.

FIG. 6 presents a progress report 600 produced by a system for producingdifferentiated content, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, such as the system 100 with a feedback application 168,described in the embodiment of FIG. 1. The progress report 600 may beprovided to an evaluator of one or more users through an e-mailcommunication. The system also may store the progress report 600 andprovide compile the progress report 600 at the instruction of theevaluator.

In FIG. 6, the progress report 600 provides the performance progress ofmultiple users 604 in a specific class grade 602 over monthly timeperiods 608. An embodiment of the present invention provides for theevaluator to request a progress report for a customized period of time,such as, for example, monthly, quarterly, and annually.

Each user 604 is associated with a specific skill level 606predetermined by the system. For example, in FIG. 6, the portion of theskill level 606 comprising “XXXL” relates to a LEXILE Score asdetermined by the system. The portion of the skill level 606 precedingthe LEXILE Score relates to a grade level or educational standard levelassociated with each user 604.

The progress report 600 may include a total number 610 of lessonexercises completed by each user 604 within a specific time period, andan average grade 612 for each user 604. The progress report 600 also mayprovide a class average 616 for each specified time period. A change 614in a skill level 606 of a user 604 that occurred during the specifiedtime period may be indicated. The progress report 600 allows for theevaluator to efficiently track the performance of each user 604 using aminimum amount of time to prepare the report 600, which provides moreteaching time for the evaluator.

FIG. 7 presents another progress report 700 regarding multipleeducational standards developed by a system for providing differentiatedcontent, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, suchas the system 100 described in the embodiment of FIG. 1. The system 100may use a feedback application to prepare the progress report 700, suchas the feedback application 168 described in the embodiment of FIG. 1.The progress report 700 is provided to an evaluator of the group ofusers 706 and covers a specific curriculum 702, such as language arts,for a specific class grade 704. The users 706 are identified and eachuser's skill level 708 is provided similarly to the skill level 606described in the embodiment of FIG. 6.

A total number 710 of questions answered by each user 704 is providedfor a specified time period. Subject areas 712 within the curriculum 702where a user 704 has demonstrated a mastering of the area is provided inregards to a specific standard concept. Subject areas 714 and 716 whereadditional practice is suggested, and where poor performance isdetermined, also are provided regarding specific standard concepts. Theprogress report 700 allows an evaluator to review the performance ofeach user 704 in relation to specific standard concepts and to determinewhere immediate help may be needed, or where an increase in skill levelmay be required, such as where a user 704 has mastered all of theconcepts regarding a particular standard.

FIG. 8 presents an analysis report 800 of multiple users' performance inregards to a single educational standard concept 804, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention. The progress report is providedby a system, such as system 100 with a feedback application 168, asdescribed in the embodiment of FIG. 1, to an evaluator of a group ofusers 808, and covers a specified curriculum 802, such as language arts,for a sixth grade class 806. The standard concept 804 covers readingcomprehension at a specific level as defined by an applicableeducational standard.

The class of users 808 is identified by name along with each user'sassessed reading skill level 810, similar to the skill levels 606described in the embodiment of FIG. 6. A number 812 of questionsanswered by each user 808, where the questions relate to the identifiedstandard concept 804, is provided and a related average score 814 alsois provided in the progress report 800.

With respect to each user's performance, the progress report 800 mayinclude recommended practices 816 to an evaluator regarding each user808 regarding each user's performance. The progress report also mayprovide additional lesson exercises 818 for one or more users 808,thereby assisting an evaluator in teaching the users 808.

Each of the progress reports described in the embodiments of FIGS. 6, 7,and 8 may be stored in a database by the system 100, such as aperformance database 150 described in the embodiment of FIG. 1.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention,other and further embodiments of the present invention may be devisedwithout departing from the basic scope thereof, where the scope thereofis determined by the following claims.

We claim:
 1. A computer implemented method for providing differentiatedcontent to a plurality of users, comprising the steps of: providing afirst set of questions to at least one user using at least one computer;receiving a first set of answers related to the first set of questionsfrom the at least one user using at least one computer; analyzing thefirst set of answers to produce a first skill level associated with theat least one user using at least one computer; obtaining a firstunmodified content from at least one source using at least one computer;modifying the first unmodified content in accordance with the firstskill level of the at least one user to produce a first modified contentusing at least one computer; associating the at least one user with askill level group using at least one computer; preparing electronicmessage communications to the user via an electronic message system,wherein a body portion of the electronic message communications arecustomized to the skill level of the user in addition to the modifiedcontent using at least one computer; facilitating communications amongusers within the same skill level group using at least one computer;obtaining a first set of educational standards using at least onecomputer; evaluating the first set of educational standards to produce aunique standards code by analyzing at least one of one or morestatements of the standards, a structure of the standards, a coremeaning of the standards, a related and ancillary meaning of thestandards, a learning mode referenced by the standards, an intent of thestandards, or related critical thinking, logical, philosophical, andpedagogical elements of the educational standards using at least onecomputer; aligning the first unmodified content to the first set ofeducational standards to produce a first aligned content in accordancewith the unique standards code using at least one computer; matching thefirst aligned content to the first skill level of the at least one userusing at least one computer; generating a second set of questionsrelated to the first modified content using at least one computer;presenting the first modified content and the second set of questions tothe at least one user using at least one computer; receiving a secondset of answers related to the second set of questions from the at leastone user using at least one computer; analyzing the second set ofanswers to produce a second skill level associated with the at least oneuser using at least one computer; obtaining a second unmodified contentfrom at least one source using at least one computer; and modifying thesecond unmodified content in accordance with the second skill level toproduce a second modified content using at least one computer.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first set of educational standards isselected from the group consisting of educational standards, industrytraining standards, and job performance standards.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the step of aligning the first unmodified content tothe first set of educational standards further comprises the step ofusing a set of intermediate standards.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of preparing a first lesson plan using the firstmodified content, wherein the first lesson plan comprises a set oflesson exercises related to the first skill level.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the step of preparing a second lesson planusing the second modified content, wherein the second lesson plancomprises a set of lesson exercises related to the second skill level.6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of preparing asecond lesson plan using the first modified content, wherein the secondlesson plan comprises a set of lesson exercises related to the secondskill level.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step ofdeveloping a user profile associated with the user, wherein the userprofile comprises user identification information, learningcharacteristics, personal interests, and the first and second skilllevels of the user.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step ofanalyzing the first set of answers to produce a first skill levelassociated with the user further comprises the step of comparing thefirst set of answers to a first set of educational standards.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising the step of delivering the firstmodified content via an e-mail communication.
 10. The method of claim 9,further comprising the step of presenting the e-mail communication in aformat associated with the first skill level.
 11. The method of claim 1,further comprising the step of delivering the second modified contentvia an e-mail communication.
 12. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising the step of presenting the e-mail communication in a formatassociated with the second skill level.
 13. The method of claim 1,wherein the first skill level and the second skill level are the same.14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first skill level and the secondskill level are different.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprisingthe step of providing feedback to the user regarding the analysis of thesecond set of answers to produce the second skill level.
 16. The methodof claim 15 further comprising the step of receiving a modified secondset of answers based on the feedback provided to the user.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, further comprising the step of analyzing themodified second set of answers to produce a third skill level.
 18. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising the step of delivering theanalysis of the first set of answers and the analysis of the second setof answers to an evaluator.
 19. The method of claim 18, furthercomprising the step of receiving a modification to the first skill levelby the evaluator.
 20. The method of claim 18, further comprising thestep of receiving a modification to the second skill level by theevaluator.
 21. The method of claim 18, further comprising the steps of:receiving a substitute first skill level from the evaluator; andreplacing the first skill level with the substitute first skill level.22. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second unmodifiedcontents are selected from the group consisting of textbooks, newsarticles, educational lessons, and industry training materials.
 23. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the at least one source is selected from thegroup consisting of a school database, a news database, an educationaldatabase, a proprietary database, and an evaluator.
 24. A method forproviding content to a plurality of users, where the content provided toeach user is the same in information but customized in presentation inaccordance with a skill level of each user, comprising the steps of:providing a first set of questions to the plurality of users using atleast one computer; receiving a plurality of first sets of answersrelated to the first set of questions, wherein each first set of answersis associated with each user of the plurality of users using at leastone computer; analyzing each first set of answers of the plurality offirst sets of answers to produce a plurality of first skill levels,wherein each first skill level is associated with each user using atleast one computer; obtaining a first unmodified content from at leastone source using at least one computer; modifying the first unmodifiedcontent to produce a plurality of versions of first modified content,wherein each version of first modified content is associated with eachfirst skill level associated with each user using at least one computer;associating each user with a skill level group using at least onecomputer; preparing electronic message communications to each user viaan electronic message system, wherein a body portion of the electroniccommunications are customized to the skill level of the user in additionto the modified content using at least one computer; facilitatingcommunications among users within the same skill level group using atleast one computer; obtaining a first set of educational standards usingat least one computer; evaluating the first set of educational standardsto produce a unique standards code by analyzing at least one of one ormore statements of the standards, a structure of the standards, a coremeaning of the standards, a related and ancillary meaning of thestandards, a learning mode referenced by the standards, an intent of thestandards, or related critical thinking, logical, philosophical, andpedagogical elements of the educational standards using at least onecomputer; aligning each of the plurality of versions of first unmodifiedcontent to the first set of educational standards to produce a firstaligned content in accordance with the unique standards code using atleast one computer; matching the first aligned content to the firstskill level of the user using at least one computer; generating aplurality of second sets of questions wherein each second set ofquestions is related to each version of first modified content using atleast one computer; matching each version of first modified content andeach second set of questions to each first skill level associated witheach user using at least one computer; and presenting each matchedversion of first modified content and each matched second set ofquestions to each user of the plurality of users using at least onecomputer.
 25. The method of claim 24, further comprising the steps of:receiving a plurality of second sets of answers from the plurality ofusers, wherein each second set of answers is related to each second setof questions using at least one computer; analyzing each second set ofanswers to produce a plurality of second skill levels, wherein eachsecond skill level is associated with each user using at least onecomputer; obtaining a second unmodified content from at least one sourceusing at least one computer; and modifying the second unmodified contentto produce a plurality of versions of second modified content, whereineach version of second modified content is associated with each secondskill level associated with each user using at least one computer. 26.The method of claim 24, wherein the step of aligning the firstunmodified content to the first set of educational standards furthercomprises the step of using a set of intermediate standards.
 27. Themethod of claim 24, further comprising the step of preparing a pluralityof first lesson plans, wherein each first lesson plan relates to eachversion of first modified content, wherein each first lesson plancomprises a set of lesson exercises related to each first skill level ofeach user.
 28. A computer system for providing differentiated content toa user, comprising: at least one central processing unit; at least oneset of support circuits; a first server comprising a differentiationengine, wherein the differentiation engine comprises: a profile databasefor storing a user profile; and an assessment application to perform thefunctions of: developing a user profile, wherein the user profilecomprises learning characteristics of the user; assessing a plurality ofskill levels associated with the user; and preparing customized contentbased on the plurality of skill levels; and a second server comprising astandards engine communicatively connected with the differentiationengine, wherein the standards engine comprises: a standards database forstoring a plurality of sets of educational standards; an intermediatestandards database for storing a plurality of sets of intermediatestandards; and an alignment application to perform the functions of:obtaining unmodified content; generating a unique standards identifierfor each of the plurality of sets of educational standards, wherein theunique standards identifier corresponds to one or more content elementsof each set of educational standards; applying a set of intermediatestandards to align the unmodified content to a set of educationalstandards from the plurality of sets of educational standards using theunique standards identifier; and a third server comprising acommunication engine communicatively connected with the differentiationengine, wherein the communication engine comprises a communicationapplication to perform the functions of: preparing electronic messagecommunications to the user via an electronic message system, wherein abody portion of the electronic message communications are customized tothe plurality of skill levels of the user in addition to the modifiedcontent; and delivering the customized content to the user.
 29. Thecomputer system of claim 28, wherein the communication applicationfurther performs the function of communicatively connecting the userwith other users associated with the system.
 30. The computer system ofclaim 28, further comprising a fourth server comprising a feedbackengine communicatively connected with each of the differentiation engineand the standards engine, wherein the feedback engine comprises: aperformance database storing performance and progress data associatedwith the user; and a feedback application to perform the functions of:generating performance and progress data associated with the user basedupon a user response to the customized content; and providing theperformance and progress data to the user and to an evaluator.
 31. Thecomputer system of claim 28, wherein each of the differentiation engineand the standards engine is stored and maintained on a server.
 32. Thecomputer system of claim 28, wherein both the differentiation engine andthe standards engine are stored and maintained on a single server. 33.The computer system of claim 28, wherein the differentiation enginecommunicatively connects to an aligned content database, wherein thealigned content database stores content aligned to a set of educationalstandards from the plurality of educational standards.
 34. The computersystem of claim 28, wherein the standards engine communicativelyconnects to at least one external unmodified content database.
 35. Thecomputer system of claim 34, wherein the at least one externalunmodified content database comprises unmodified content selected fromthe group consisting of textbooks, news articles, educational lessons,and industry training materials.
 36. The computer system of claim 28,wherein the plurality of sets of educational standards include at leastone of a set of educational standards, a set of industry trainingstandards, and a set of job performance standards.
 37. A computer systemfor providing differentiated content to a user comprises: a centralprocessing unit; a set of support circuits; and a server, wherein theserver stores and maintains a memory comprising: at least one operatingsystem; a differentiation engine; a communication engine interfacingwith the differentiation engine; a standards engine interfacing with thedifferentiation engine to analyze a set of educational standards and toalign one or more sets of unmodified content with the analyzed set ofeducational standards based on performance data of at least one user;and a feedback engine interfacing with the differentiation engine, thecommunications engine, and the standards engine to provide performancedata associated with the at least one user, wherein the communicationsengine prepares electronic message communications to the user via anelectronic message system, wherein a body portion of the electronicmessage communications are customized to the skill level of the user inaddition to the modified content.
 38. A computer-readable memory mediumstoring executable code for implementing a method to providedifferentiated content to a user on a computer, wherein the methodcomprises the steps of: providing a first set of questions to the userusing at least one computer; receiving a first set of answers related tothe first set of questions from the user using at least one computer;analyzing the first set of answers to produce a first skill levelassociated with the user using at least one computer; obtaining a firstunmodified content from at least one source using at least one computer;modifying the first unmodified content in relation to first skill levelof the user to produce a first modified content using at least onecomputer; associating the user with a skill level group using at leastone computer; preparing electronic message communications to the uservia an electronic message system, wherein a body portion of theelectronic message communications are customized to the skill level ofthe user in addition to the modified content using at least onecomputer; facilitating communications among users within the same skilllevel group using at least one computer; obtaining a first set ofeducational standards using at least one computer; evaluating the firstset of educational standards to produce a unique standards code byanalyzing at least one of one or more statements of the standards, astructure of the standards, a core meaning of the standards, a relatedand ancillary meaning of the standards, a learning mode referenced bythe standards, an intent of the standards, or related critical thinking,logical, philosophical, and pedagogical elements of the educationalstandards using at least one computer; aligning the first unmodifiedcontent to the first set of educational standards to produce a firstaligned content in accordance with the unique standards code using atleast one computer; matching the first aligned content to the firstskill level of the user using at least one computer; generating a secondset of questions related to the first modified content using at leastone computer; presenting the first modified content and the second setof questions to the user using at least one computer; receiving a secondset of answers related to the second set of questions from the userusing at least one computer; analyzing the second set of answers toproduce a second skill level associated with the user using at least onecomputer; obtaining a second unmodified content from at least one sourceusing at least one computer; and modifying the second unmodified contentin relation to the second skill level to produce a second modifiedcontent using at least one computer.
 39. The computer-readable memorymedium of claim 38, wherein the executable code implements at least asubset of the steps of the method in real-time.
 40. A computer-readablememory medium storing executable code for implementing a method toprovide content to a plurality of users, where the content provided toeach user is the same in information but customized in presentation inaccordance with a skill level of each user, wherein the method comprisesthe steps of: providing a first set of questions to the plurality ofusers using at least one computer; receiving a plurality of first setsof answers related to the first set of questions, wherein each first setof answers is associated with each user of the plurality of users usingat least one computer; analyzing each first set of answers of theplurality of first sets of answers to produce a plurality of first skilllevels, wherein each first skill level is associated with each userusing at least one computer; obtaining a first unmodified content fromat least one source using at least one computer; modifying the firstunmodified content to produce a plurality of versions of first modifiedcontent, wherein each version of first modified content is associatedwith each first skill level associated with each user using at least onecomputer; associating each user with a skill level group using at leastone computer; preparing electronic message communications to each uservia an electronic message system, wherein a body portion of theelectronic message communications are customized to the skill level ofthe user in addition to the modified content using at least onecomputer; facilitating communications among users within the same skilllevel group using at least one computer; obtaining a first set ofeducational standards using at least one computer; evaluating the firstset of educational standards to produce a unique standards code byanalyzing at least one of one or more statements of the standards, astructure of the standards, a core meaning of the standards, a relatedand ancillary meaning of the standards, a learning mode referenced bythe standards, an intent of the standards, or related critical thinking,logical, philosophical, and pedagogical elements of the educationalstandards using at least one computer; aligning the first unmodifiedcontent to the first set of educational standards to produce a firstaligned content in accordance with the unique standards code using atleast one computer using at least one computer; matching the firstaligned content a produced version of the first unmodified content ofthe plurality of versions to the first skill level of the user using atleast one computer; generating a plurality of second sets of questionswherein each second set of questions is related to each version of firstmodified content using at least one computer; matching each version offirst modified content and each second set of questions to each firstskill level associated with each user using at least one computer; andpresenting each matched version of first modified content and eachmatched second set of questions to each user of the plurality of usersusing at least one computer.
 41. The computer-readable memory medium ofclaim 40, further comprising the steps of: receiving a plurality ofsecond sets of answers from the plurality of users, wherein each secondset of answers is related to each second set of questions using at leastone computer; analyzing each second set of answers to produce aplurality of second skill levels, wherein each second skill level isassociated with each user using at least one computer; obtaining asecond unmodified content from at least one source using at least onecomputer; and modifying the second unmodified content to produce aplurality of versions of second modified content, wherein each versionof second modified content is associated with each second skill levelassociated with each user using at least one computer.
 42. Thecomputer-readable memory medium of claim 40, wherein the wherein theexecutable code implements at least a subset of the steps of the methodin real-time.